NEW ENGLAND MOTORSPORTS NORTH FOR SEPT 17
By Lou Modestino
Jimmy Ryan kicked off the Mekkelsen RV Vermont 200 Championship Weekend with a long awaited checkered flag on “Shootout Saturday” at Devil’s Bowl Speedway. Ryan led a parade of stock car drivers through victory lane in a series of bonus races following first-round qualifying for the annual year-end asphalt championship event. The main events will be run on Sunday at 1:30 p.m.
Ryan’s win came in a special 10-lap shootout for non-feature winners in the Bond Auto Parts Modified division. The veteran from Whiting, VT fought off an early challenge from Billy Lussier before stretching out his lead and taking the win, which came just two weeks after getting his car upside down.
“After the year we’ve had, I’ll take a win any way I can get it,” Ryan said in victory lane. Lussier finished second ahead of Jason Furman, Bob Kilburn, and Dave Snow.
The championship battle tightened during qualifying for Sunday’s twin 50-lap main events. Title rivals Ron Proctor and Vince Quenneville Jr. each earned five bonus points after winning their respective heat races, but Quenneville inched one point closer to Proctor in the semi-feature. The two drivers are now separated by just four points – the equivalent of two on-track positions – entering the Sunday afternoon finales.
Proctor, Quenneville, and Leon Gonyo each collected $100 bonuses from Bond Auto Parts after winning their heats; Todd Stone won the semi-feature.
Seth Bridge of Mendon, VT carried his first-ever checkered flag after taking the non-winner shootout in the Central Vermont Motorcycles Late Model division. Rookie Tony Salerno of Mineville, NY got his first win in the Brileya’s Chrysler-Jeep Renegade shootout, and rookie Bradley Bertrand of Ferrisburgh, VT did the same in the Portland Glass Mini Stocks.
Robert Gordon and Scott FitzGerald collected $50 bonuses from Sugar & Spice Restaurant and Jones’ Donuts for winning Renegade heat races, and Gordon also won the semi-feature. Harold LaVair and Chuck Bradford won $50 Portland Glass bonuses with Mini Stock heat wins, and Chris LaVair won the semi-feature.
Anthony Warren of Shoreham, VT won the Mechanics Race for the Modified division driving Ryan’s car, and Adam Maynard of Milton, VT took the Renegade Mechanics Race in Matt Monaghan’s machine. Lindsey Wells of Gabriels, NY won the ladies-only “Powder Puff” race driving her fiancée Chris LaVair’s Mini Stock.
Sunday, September 13 marks the championship season finale for the NASCAR Whelen All-American Series presented by Yandow Sales & Service and John Deere at Devil’s Bowl. The Late Model division will run qualifying races and a 100-lap main event beginning at 1:30 p.m., along with twin 50-lap features for the Modifieds, a 50-lap Renegade race, and twin 15-lap races for the Mini Stocks. The MFT Sauce & Rub Co. Enduro Series will also be in action with a metal-crunching 50-lap race.
UNOFFICIAL RESULTS – Mekkelsen RV Vermont 200 Weekend “Shootout Saturday”
Devil’s Bowl Speedway, West Haven, VT
NASCAR Whelen All-American Series presented by Yandow Sales & Service and John Deere
Saturday, September 12, 2015
Bond Auto Parts Modified Non-Winners Shootout (10 laps)
Pos.-(Car No.)-Driver-Hometown
(# – denotes rookie)
1. (60) Jimmy Ryan, Whiting, VT
2. (25) Billy Lussier, Fair Haven, VT
3. (34) Jason Furman, Ballston Spa, NY
4. (77J) # Bob Kilburn, Fair Haven, VT
5. (5VT) Dave Snow, Brandon, VT
Bond Auto Parts Modified Heat Winners: Vince Quenneville Jr.; Leon Gonyo; Ron Proctor
Bond Auto Parts Modified Semi-Feature Winner: Todd Stone
Central Vermont Motorcycles Late Model Non-Winners Shootout (10 laps)
Pos.-(Car No.)-Driver-Hometown
(# – denotes rookie)
1. (26) Seth Bridge, Mendon, VT
2. (97ME) Walter J. Hammond, Canaan, NH
3. (00) Steve Miller, Vergennes, VT
Brileya’s Chrysler-Jeep Renegade Non-Winners Shootout (10 laps)
Pos.-(Car No.)-Driver-Hometown
(# – denotes rookie)
1. (58) # Tony Salerno, Mineville, NY
2. (71GB) # Matt Monaghan, Colchester, VT
3. (9) Jared Blake, North Hero, VT
Brileya’s Chrysler-Jeep Renegade Heat Winners: Robert Gordon; Scott FitzGerald
Brileya’s Chrysler-Jeep Renegade Semi-Feature Winner: Robert Gordon
Portland Glass Mini Stock Non-Winners Shootout (10 laps)
Pos.-(Car No.)-Driver-Hometown
(# – denotes rookie)
1. (29) # Bradley Bertrand, Ferrisburgh, VT
2. (51) John McCarron, Rensselaer, NY
3. (4) Harold LaVair Jr., Gabriels, NY
4. (68) Kyle Sorensen, Ballston Spa, NY
5. (55) Andrew FitzGerald, West Rutland, VT
6. (73) Kyle Sorensen, Bomoseen, VT
7. (94) # Tanner Crary, Saranac Lake, NY
8. (31) Dan Collins, Rensselaer, NY
Portland Glass Mini Stock Heat Winners: Harold LaVair Jr.; Chuck Bradford
Portland Glass Mini Stock Semi-Feature Winner: Chris LaVair
Bond Auto Parts Modified Mechanics Race (6 laps)
Pos.-(Car No.)-Driver-Hometown
1. (60) Anthony Warren, Shoreham, VT
2. (20) Dave O’Neil, Plattsburgh, NY
Brileya’s Chrysler-Jeep Renegade Mechanics Race (8 laps)
Pos.-(Car No.)-Driver-Hometown
1. (71GB) Adam Maynard, Milton, VT
2. (22X) Ray Benoit, Milton, VT
3. (17) Mike Lague, Fairfax, VT
4. (5) Tom Lacz, West Rutland, VT
Portland Glass Mini Stock “Powder Puff” Race (6 laps)
Pos.-(Car No.)-Driver-Hometown
1. (4) Lindsey Wells, Gabriels, NY
2. (55) Katelyn FitzGerald, West Rutland, VT
3. (18) Kara Bradford, Addison, VT
While New Hampshire driver Jeff Locke looked to be the man to beat at the annual Star Classic on Saturday, it was Ohio’s Dave Shullick who became the spoiler in what would have been Locke’s first ever Star win. Locke lost the lead to Shullick on lap 90 as the 37 was working around lap traffic.
Shullick took up the point and never looked back coming up to the 5th place Chris Perley at the end of the 150 lapper. Locke met with the front straight wall on lap 110 adding to his disappointment earning a 14th place finish. Jeff Abold followed Shullick, not too closely, over the line for his second straight runner-up spot with Mark Sammut having his best ever Star finish in a third. Mike Ordway Sr., who had not raced in two years, brought the Clyde Booth 61 home fourth with Perley, the last car in the lead lap in fifth.
22 cars came from time trials with the last 3 remaining cars added to the end of the starting field.
Notes… Two horrific accident saw Joe Gosek hit hard in the tires off turn three in practice and Eric Lewis found his 28 heading off the track and into the trees in a scary looking incident in the feature. Neither driver was injured. One race remains in the ISMA season which is the Thompson World Series of Racing in October.
50th Running ISMA Star Classic Star Speedway, Sept. 12, 2015
Time Trials
1. 95 Dave Shullick Jr. 11.050, 2. 97 Timmy Jedrzejek 11.226, 3. 21 Eddie Witkum Jr. 11.265, 4. 37 Jeff Locke 11.274, 5. 25 Dan Bowes 11.323, 6. 11 Chris Perley 11.363, 7. 61 Mike Ordway Sr., 8. 98 Justin Belfiore 11.384, 9. 79 Jon McKennedy 11.409, 10. 7 Tommy Tomberello 11.412, 11. 05 Jeff Abold 11.460, 12. 84 Mike Lichty 11.461, 13. 74 Rob Summers 11.463, 14. 19 Trent Stephens 11.483, 15. 55 Mike Netishen 11.499, 16. 28 Eric Lewis 11.504, 17. 78 Mark Sammut 11.507, 18. 49 Danny Shirey 11.519, 19.17 Ben Seitz 11.525, 20. 65 Tim Ice 11.531, 21. 51 Dave Duggan 11.672, 22. 8 Lonnie Adamson 11.750, 23. 27 Jamie Timmons 11.805, 24. 14 Jon Gambuti 11.808, 25. 5 Brian Sobus 12.074
Star Classic 150
1. 95 Dave Shullick Jr., 2. 05 Jeff Abold, 3. 78 Mark Sammut, 4. 61 Mike Ordway Sr., 5. 11 Chris Perley, 6. 25 Dan Bowes, 7. 97 Timmy Jedrzejek, 8. 74 Rob Summers, 9. Trent Stephens, 10. 65 Tim Ice, 11. Mike Netishen, 12. 27 Jamie Timmons, 13. Justin Belfiore 98, 14. 37 Jeff Locke, 15. 8 Lonnie Adamson, 16. 14 Jon Gambuti, 17. 79 Jon McKennedy, 18. 49 Danny Shirey, 19. 17 Ben Seitz, 20. 21 Eddie Witkum Jr.. 21. 84 Mike Lichty, 22. 7 Tommy Tomberello, 23. 28 Eric Lewis, 24. 51 Dave Duggan,25. 5 Brian Sobus.
Wayne Helliwell Jr. took advantage of lapped traffic to slip by Donald Theetge with 11 laps remaining and take his fourth win American-Canadian Tour (ACT) win of the season at Vallée-Jct., QC’s Autodrome Chaudiere on Saturday, September 12.
Dover, NH’s Helliwell had stalked Theetge through traffic after the two got around then-leader Jean-François Déry on lap 169 of the 200-lap event. As the pair approached the lapped car of Etienne Cliche, Theetge looked to pass him on the outside groove. But Cliche drifted high entering turn 3 and Helliwell dove to the bottom, grabbing the lead and driving away for the win in front of the second-largest crowd in track history.
Patrick Hamel got the jump on polesitter Martin Goulet Jr. and lead the first seven laps before Déry took over. Déry built a big lead at times, but six cautions in the first 63 laps tightened the field up and led to Déry and Theetge swapping the lead back and forth on a series of restarts.
The race eventually settled in and went the entire second half caution-free, with Déry, Theetge, Helliwell, and Joey Polewarczyk Jr. breaking away from the field. Déry’s car eventually began to fall off on the long green-flag run, and after multiple attempts to get around him, Theetge finally swung to the outside and grabbed the lead with 31 laps remaining.
Helliwell, who had worked his way up from the 12th starting position, followed him through and the two pulled away as they chased each other through traffic, at one point splitting lapped cars three-wide. But Theetge’s efforts were for naught after Helliwell’s winning move.
Theetge settled for second while Polewarczyk got around Déry in the final laps for third. Dery faded to fourth after leading a race-high 134 laps. Alex Labbé made a late charge to finish fifth. Série ACT point leader Dany Trépanier, Brandon Atkins, Jonathan Bouvrette, Cliche, and Jeff White completed the top-10.
Helliwell unofficially takes the ACT U.S. Tour point lead by 13 over Polewarczyk while Déry’s efforts helped him cut into Trépanier’s Série ACT lead. Both series have just two point-counting events remaining in the 2015 season.
The best of the ACT U.S. and Série ACT will head to New Hampshire Motor Speedway on Saturday, September 26 for the 7th Annual Bond Auto ACT Invitational. Forty-three of the top ACT Late Model racers in the northeast United States and Canada will go 50 green-flag laps on the “Magic Mile” as part of a tripleheader that includes the Camping World Truck Series and Whelen Modified Tour. The Invitational will roll to the grid at approximately 5:00pm.
CHAUDIERE 200
UNOFFICIAL RESULTS
Pos, Start Pos, Driver, Car #, Hometown, Laps
( 12 ) Wayne Helliwell Jr. ( 27NH ) , Dover, NH , 200 Laps
( 6 ) Donald Theetge ( 80QC ) , Boischatel, QC , 200 Laps
( 13 ) Joey Polewarczyk Jr. ( 97NH ) , Hudson, NH , 200 Laps
( 4 ) Jean-Francois Dery ( 21QC ) , Quebec, QC , 200 Laps
( 7 ) Alex Labbe ( 48QC ) , St-Albert, QC , 200 Laps
( 8 ) Dany Trepanier ( 19QC ) , St-Edouard, QC , 200 Laps
( 11 ) Brandon Atkins ( 4NY ) , AuSable Forks, NY , 200 Laps
( 22 ) Jonathan Bouvrette ( 41QC ) , Blainville, QC , 200 Laps
( 10 ) Etienne Cliché ( 98QC ) , Vallée-Jct., QC , 199 Laps
( 9 ) Jeff White ( 50ME ) , Winthrop, ME , 199 Laps
( 19 ) Jimmy Hebert ( 58VT ) , Williamstown, VT , 199 Laps
( 21 ) Simon Roussin ( 6QC ) , Quebec, QC , 199 Laps
( 2 ) Patrick Hamel ( 51QC ) , St.-Croix, QC , 199 Laps
( 16 ) Emily Packard ( 9ME ) , E. Montpelier, VT , 199 Laps
( 5 ) Patrick Boyer ( 13QC ) , Quebec, QC , 199 Laps
( 17 ) #Rich Dubeau ( 30NH ) , Plainfield, NH , 199 Laps
( 23 ) Kyle Welch ( 9NH ) , Newport, NH , 198 Laps
( 15 ) Patrick Cliché ( 5QC ) , Levis, QC , 198 Laps
( 27 ) Marco Bilodeau ( 75QC ) , Vallée-Jct., QC , 197 Laps
( 24 ) Gaetan Gaudreault ( 38QC ) , Quebec, QC , 197 Laps
( 26 ) Carl Poulin ( 57QC ) , Quebec, QC , 196 Laps
( 3 ) Claude Leclerc ( 11QC ) , Lanoraie, QC , 164 Laps
( 25 ) Charles Harvey ( 77QC ) , Terrebonne, QC , 133 Laps
( 1 ) Martin Goulet Jr. ( 83QC ) , Mascouche, QC , 78 Laps
( 28 ) Gaetan Longtin ( 66QC ) , Mercier, QC , 67 Laps
( 14 ) Brad Babb ( 15NH ) , Windham, ME , 63 Laps
( 18 ) Eric St-Gelais ( 42QC ) , St. Aime-des-Lacs, QC , 45 Laps
( 20 ) Rowland Robinson, Jr. ( 28ME ) , Steuben, ME , 23 Laps
Lap Leaders: Martin Goulet Jr., 0; Patrick Hamel, 1-7; Jean-Francois Dery, 8-37; Hamel, 38; Dery, 39-46; Donald Theetge, 47-51; Dery, 52-64; Theetge, 65-85; Dery, 86-168; Theetge, 169-189; Wayne Helliwell Jr., 190-200. (10 lead changes among 5 drivers)
Time of Race: 1:19:40 Margin of Victory: 0.559 seconds
Cautions: 7 (laps 5, 37, 46, 51, 63, 63, 78)
Heat Winners: Patrick Boyer, Donald Theetge, Alex Labbe, Dany Trepanier
Consi Winners: Brad Babb, Jean-Francois Dery
The American-Canadian Tour (ACT) Late Model field is nearly set for the 7th Annual Bond Auto ACT Invitational at Loudon’s New Hampshire Motor Speedway (NHMS) Saturday, September 26. Drivers from seven U.S. states and the Canadian province of Quebec have already accepted invitations for the 43-car, 50-lap event.
All four previous winners of the Bond Auto ACT Invitational will try and add to their win total. Three-time Invitational winner Eddie MacDonald of Rowley, MA will look for his fourth victory, while 2014 winner Wayne Helliwell of Dover, NH tries to go back-to-back. 2010 winner and current ACT Tour point leader Joey Polewarczyk Jr. of Hudson, NH along with 2012 winner Ray Parent of Tiverton, RI are searching for their second Invitational victories.
A strong contingent of Quebec competitors look to bring the trophy to Canada for the first time. Current Série ACT point leader Dany Trépanier of St-Edourard, QC and 2014 Invitational runner-up Patrick Laperle of St-Denis, QC lead the list of Quebec contenders. 2014 Série ACT Champion Alex Labbé, 2013 Champion Jean-François Déry, and Bond Auto Parts New Champions point leader Jonathan Bouvrette will also join the starting field.
Many top performers from past Invitationals will try to break into the NHMS winner’s circle. Barre, VT’s Nick Sweet has two runner-up finishes while Tom Carey Jr. has finished in the top-10 the last four Invitationals. Lempster, NH’s Guy Caron turned the fastest lap at the test session in August.
A handful of drivers will make their ACT Late Model debuts at the “Magic Mile”. Sophomore ACT Tour competitor Mike Ziter and top ACT rookie Rich Dubeau will compete in the Invitational for the first time, as will Thompson Speedway’s Jeff Rocco and Devil’s Bowl Speedway’s Walt Hammond Jr. 2014 Granite State Pro Stock Series Champion Dillon Moltz returns to NHMS after competing in the Pro All Stars Series event in July. Woody Pitkat, who won the Whelen All-Star Modified Shootout at NHMS in July, will do double-duty in the ACT Invitational and the Whelen Modified Tour event.
The 7th Annual Bond Auto ACT Invitational at New Hampshire Motor Speedway is Saturday, September 26. The event is part of a tripleheader that includes the Camping World Truck Series and Whelen Modified Tour. The Invitational is scheduled to begin at 5:00pm.
With the August 23 Hudson Hugger having been rained out it had been over a month since the Granite State Pro Stock Series was last on track. That didn’t slow any of the series and the region’s top dogs, drawing 23 cars for the full fendered portion of the historic 50th Annual Star Classic at the racy ¼ mile speed plant in Epping NH.
DJ Shaw made his second appearance of the year in the series and was quick to show his strength early with a dominant win in the first heat of the night. Strong wins by Nick Sweet and Matt Frahm in the remaining heats would set the tone for the night.
The feature saw 03 Auto Mart Chevy of Joe Squeglia benefitting from the redraw to find himself on the pole followed by the Steve Dickey, Matt Frahm, Nick Sweet and DJ Shaw rounding out the top 5. Squeglia showed the way for much of the first 40 laps fending off challenges on the outside from a hard charging Matt Frahm.
Squeglia was very strong on the restarts but soon had a mirror full of DJ Shaw. By lap 40 Shaw had managed to wrestle the lead from Squeglia, but the story of the night was current point leader Derek Griffith in the #12 LCM Racing Toyota. Griffith had a rough start to the night when contact with the #29 of Barry Gray in the heat race relegated him to a 22nd place starting spot. Griffith would have his work cut out for him as he need to patiently and methodically work his way through the pack.
Shaw would battle the very stout Squeglia for the next 25 laps fending off challenges through a slew of restarts before the 03 would lose ground and position to a very stealthy #05 of Jacob Dore. Dore, making his first appearance with the series in the Star Classic 100, had been under the radar most of the night taking 3rd on a lap 65 restart after a racy battle with both Frahm and Griffith who had worked his way to the top 5 after another early race incident that ripped the right front fender off of his #12 LCM Racer.
Shaw was comfortably leading the race, but was very much aware the #12 of Griffith was not far behind. “When Derek got to 4th I knew he was good so I said he’s the one I want to watch. Keep an eye on him and let me know when he goes and luckily we had a good cushion when he got to second”. With 15 to go it was Shaw leading. Matt Frahm had worked his way back to second followed by Griffith and Dore. Frahm knew he had his work cut out for him on the next restart and let his Lambert Roofing #14 crew know it wasn’t quite right “Guys it’s not 100%, It’s not like a video game I can’t just go around, so it’s gonna be a lot of work to hold these guys off.” Frahm battled valiantly on the restart but was stuck on the outside losing position to both Griffith and Dore. With 10 laps to go the Precision JLM #60 of Shaw was able to maintain a two car length advantage, cruising to his second career win on the Granite State Pro Stock Series. Derek Griffith battled adversity for the second straight event to finish a strong second followed by Jacob Dore, Matt Frahm, and Joe Squeglia rounding out the top 5.
Unofficial Finish
1 60 DJ Shaw
2 12 Derek Griffith
3 05 Jacob Dore
4 14m Matt Frahm
5 03 Joe Squeglia
6 38 Babe Branscombe
7 66 Mike Parks
8 29 Barry Gray
9 5 Dillon Moltz
10 21nh Nick Sweet
11 98 Steve Dicky
12 37me Larry Gelinas
13 06 Dan Colby
14 51nh Jeremy Harclerode
15 1ct Cory Casagrande
16 16 Tommy O’Sullivan
17 08 Mike O’Sullivan
18 92 Billy Brady
19 35 Bobby Nadeau
20 32 Steve Murphy
21 21 Josh King
22 11 Steve Johnson
23 28 Greg Nanigian
Contingency Winner
Car #
Name
AR Bodies (Hard Luck)
11
Steve Johnson
Bond Auto Parts (Last Car on Lead lap)
1
Cory casagrande
Bond Auto Parts (Halfway Leader)
60
DJ Shaw
Draco Springs (Most spots gained)
12
Derek Griffith
Five Star Bodies (5th Place)
3
Joe Squeglia
MacLellen Metal Finishing (Heat #1)
60
DJ Shaw